The business of the Bayan Group is strongly built on the strength of our experience in Indonesia. Our President Director and Founder of Bayan Group - Dato’ Dr. Low Tuck Kwong’s business interests commenced in Indonesia in 1973 when he formed PT. Jaya Sumpiles Indonesia (JSI) as an earthworks, civil works and marine structure contractor. JSI quickly became pioneer in complex pile foundation works, and leading contractor in Indonesia in the above fields and remained so during the 1980’s and 1990’s. In 1988, JSI ventured into contract coal mining and was a leading mining contractor until 1998 when Dato’ Dr. Low acquired PT. Gunung Bayan Pratamacoal (GBP) and PT. Dermaga Perkasapratama (DPP). At the time GBP had not commenced mining and the Balikpapan Coal Terminal (under DPP) has a rated capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per annum.
Under the leadership of Dato’ Dr. Low, the Bayan Group quickly transformed into vertically integrated successful and reputed coal mining company. The Bayan Group was formed through a number of strategic acquisitions in the coal sector and established with a proven track record in developing greenfield coal mines.
In recent years the Tabang / Pakar project has expanded from being a small-scale mining operation producing only 1.9 million tonnes in 2014 to producing approximately 22.7 million tonnes in 2018. This has rapidly increased Bayan’s position in the market now placing it within the top 5 Indonesian coal producers. Further growth is planned in coming years with a target to increase production from Tabang / Pakar Project of more than 60 million tonnes per annum by 2026.
The Bayan Group is an innovator in the Indonesian coal mining industry and it is continuously looking at new methodologies and technologies to cement its position as one of the lowest cost producers in Indonesia. For example, the Bayan Group was the first coal mining company in Indonesia to employ through-seam blasting at its Wahana mine and is currently utilizing some of the largest coal haulage trucks in Indonesia with payloads of up to 250 tonnes. The Bayan Group has implemented a Fleet Management System (FMS) at its Tabang mine site to improve accuracy and efficiency of its barging operations. Another technology that supports our operation is the deployment of Geotechnical slope stability radar to monitor slopes and provide accurate slope failure prediction. We expect the trend of utilizing new technologies and innovative methodologies to continue.
The Bayan Group has some of the leading coal infrastructure in the country through its ownership of the Balikpapan Coal Terminal, the Perkasa and Wahana Jetties and the two Floating Transfer Barges (KFT’s). These facilities include the ability to unload barges, stockpile coal and load vessels at speeds ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 tonnes per hour. Most of these facilities can blend coal from multiples stockpiles and qualities.
In order to keep its position at the forefront of the Indonesian coal mining industry, the Group further built 101 Km coal hauling road/overland conveyor system which connects Tabang project to Muara Pahu barge loading facility – the new barge loading facility that will have 3 units barge loaders to cater for the significant increases in production to more than 60+ mtpa in years to come. The 101 km coal hauling road is aligned with a public road that stretches 85 km to improve the access of local communities.
We continue to invest to expand these facilities where required providing our customers flexibility in the vessels they use as well as redundancy in terms of our capacity.